Gas pipeline to be finalised in 45 days: Iran

New Delhi: India, Pakistan and Iran will finalise in 45 days all agreements for implementation of the long-delayed tri-nation gas pipeline project, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Tuesday night. All pending issues and agreements would be finalised within 45 days and "given to the leadership of the three countries. Afterwards we will decide," he said addressing a news conference here after talks with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. On extending the pipeline to China, he said "we have recieved one proposal. We will evaluate it and consider its merit and evaluate all aspects of the proposal". Describing Iran's relationship with India as "deep and historic", the President said the "two sides are too close to each other and hope in the future we will finalise the gas pipeline project."

Hopes alive, Sarabjit's kin return from Pak

ATTARI: Family members of Sarabjit Singh, on a death row in Pakistan, who returned to Attari on Tuesday, said the decision of the Pakistan government to defer his hanging by another three weeks indicated its "positive attitude" towards him. They also expressed the hope that his death sentence might be commuted to a life term. "I wish Kot Lakhpat jail authorities had arranged an open meeting for us. I could not even hug my father as he was behind bars," said Poonam, Sarabjit's youngest daughter. She was just 23 days old when her father had inadvertently strayed into the Pakistan territory. Accompanying her were her sister Swapandeep, mother Sukhpreet and aunt Dalbir Kaur. "It's yet another step in accomplishing our mission — save Sarabjit," added Dalbir Kaur

Sonia trying to shift blame for price rise: Advani  

Accusing the UPA government of "mismanagement", senior BJP leader L K Advani on Tuesday said the Congress was trying to shift the blame for the price spiral on state governments. Reacting to Congress president Sonia Gandhi's speech in West Bengal on Monday, the senior party leader said, "her attempt to shift the blame for price rise on state governments is a disingenuous attempt to hide the failure and mismanagement of the Central government." Advani, who was addressing a meeting of the parliamentary party here, said Gandhi has "broken her silence" on the violence in Nandigram for the first time after the communist parties started protesting against the government's failure to contain price rise. Gandhi in a public meeting at Behrampur had charged the West Bengal government with failure to contain violence in Nandigram and said there is no place for political violence in a democracy